Wi-Fi coming to Virgin Australia international flights
YOU’LL soon be able to stay connected on the plane to America with one Australian airline set to become the first carrier to offer Wi-Fi on its international flights.
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BATTLE lines have been drawn between the nation’s major airlines with Virgin Australia today set to become the first carrier to offer Wi-Fi on its international flights.
The service will be rolled out for its Boeing 777 fleet to Los Angeles from tomorrow, with plans to extend its availability to include its 737 flights to Bali and New Zealand and its A330-200 connections to Hong Kong by the end of 2019.
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The coverage marks a leap forward for Virgin, after a toe-to-toe race with Qantas to launch Wi-Fi on its domestic flights last year.
But staying connected on international flights will come at a cost — passengers eager to tap away on social media or stream content will be charged an introductory rate of $8.99 per hour or $19.99 for the flight’s duration.
The airline has stopped short of allowing voice activation — meaning passengers will not be able to use video conferencing — saying it could interfere with the in-flight experience of others.
“It’s about trying to get that balance right but we think we have achieved that,’’ Virgin Australia’s customer experience and product general manager Tash Tobias said.
Standard connections are available during flights within Australia for free across with both airlines.
In April, Virgin offered a higher speed connection at an hourly rate.
Virgin Australia said the introduction of in-flight Wi-Fi would help with customer `net-lag’ after research commissioned by the company revealed 70 per cent of Aussies confessed to having experienced frustration because they couldn’t access the internet.
The Wi-Fi launch comes a week after Virgin slammed a ground breaking alliance between major rivals Qantas and Air New Zealand, saying locking out trans-Tasman competition was bad news for consumers.
A new codeshare agreement between the two carriers, revealed on Friday, will apply to 115 domestic routes in Australia and New Zealand from October.
It means customers will likely benefit from shorter connection times and faster overall journeys.
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